Mr. D?nal McCormack:

According to the 2020 climate change report by the Local Government Management Agency, LGMA, there are over 2,400 local authority allotments and 97 community gardens throughout Ireland, with eight local authorities stating that they do not provide any.

Our own research shows that 23% of local authorities do not have a policy or objective for community gardens or allotments in their development plans. Seventy-one per cent do not have a section on community growing on their websites and almost 89% do not operate a waiting list.

Compared to other countries, Ireland lags behind in the management, support and protection of allotments and community gardens. Our report includes details of this with Germany, the UK, Denmark and other countries offering far more plots per capitathan Ireland.

Other countries have also improved legislation surrounding the provision of allotments and community gardens. Scotland and Wales require a government minister to formally approve if one is removed by a local authority and they have a duty to keep a waiting list and take action to ensure that local residents do not stay on them for long periods.

Our current legislation is weak and confusing. There are no requirements for waiting lists in each local authority, which makes it difficult for local authorities to forecast or plan ahead for future use of land.

There are three primary items of legislation historically covering allotments in Ireland. The first is the Labourers Cottages and Allotments (Ireland) Act 1882. This provided a path for labourers to be assigned an allotment when a cottage was provided, with "an allotment not exceeding half an acre". This law remains in effect.

The second is the Acquisition of Land (Allotments) Acts 1926 to 1934. In 1926, local authorities were given the option to perform compulsory purchase orders for the purchase of land for allotments. In the 1934 Act, specific assistance was given to those who could not afford to rent an allotment, making them affordable by law. In 1994, the 1926 and 1934 acts were repealed. Despite this, the Acts have been referenced in answers given to three separate parliamentary questions in 2009, 2011 and 2013 by Departments. Local authorities still refer to the 1926 Act, such as in the Cork City Development Plan 2015-2021, which has not yet been replaced. Community groups often refer to these Acts when requesting public land for allotments or community gardens.

The third is the Local Government Act 2001 and the Planning and Development Act (Amendment) 2010. According to these Acts, local authorities "may" provide allotments. The law has not caught up with the provision of community gardens as these are not defined in current legislation, and there is no condition of affordability. In reality, there is no community growing law in Ireland. Community growing projects may believe they have protection by law but this is not the case.

There has been a well-documented resurgence of interest in gardening and growing your own produce recently. In our 2021 survey, however, we found that only 20% of allotments and community gardens are permanent. In the same week that Santry community garden in Dublin was included in the top ten Green Flag winners worldwide, other community groups were removed from their growing spaces. Given the demand for space in urban areas, we can see this situation repeating itself more frequently in the coming years.

Our report proposes the following: reform community growing legislation and issue guidance documents; put a clear duty on local authorities to provide or facilitate the provision of community growing spaces within five years; a minimum number of requests after which community growing spaces must be provided; require all local authorities to keep a waiting list; make it compulsory that community growing spaces must be kept affordable; ensure all local authorities include a policy or objective in their county development plan; consider items such as a community land trust and an Irish national community growers' forum; and set a target for the doubling the number of community growing spaces in Ireland by 2025.

Our report has the support of GIY Ireland, the Irish Seed Savers Association, Dublin Community Growers, and Social Farms & Gardens Northern Ireland. We hope we have demonstrated the immense benefits that come from the provision of allotments and community gardens, and ask members to consider and implement these proposals. Let us grow the number of community growing spaces throughout Ireland.